THE first Scots troops to return from Afghanistan after handing over security to local forces yesterday labelled their mission as “job done”.

The soldiers, from the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, arrived back in the UK yesterday and more than 50 guardsmen from the Right Flank of the battalion returned to barracks in Yorkshire.

The Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) are now responsible for security at a key route in the northern-most security sector of Helmand. The Scots Guards were serving with Task Force Helmand, currently led by the British Army’s 4th Mechanized Brigade, known as “The Black Rats”.

Right Flank formed part of the first 500 British troops to be sent home from Afghanistan, as announced by the Prime Minister last year.

1 Platoon Commander, Second Lieutenant James Westlake, 31, who was attached to Right Flank from the Honourable Artillery Company, said: “It was apparent to everyone in the platoon, not just higher up, that the job is done. The Afghan forces in those locations are ready to take over”.

Lieutenant Sayed Farid, the new Afghan Commander from the ANCOP’s 5th Brigade, who are taking over from The Scots Guards in Pan Kalay, said: “We are sad because our friends are leaving. They did their part.”